Hot pots!

Robin crawled into bed on Sunday night at 2 a.m. (technically it was already Monday) after a 48 hour firing. Here he is 36 hours later peeking into the kiln, anxious and excited to get his hands on those hot pots (literally) and check out the results. 

Many thanks to our friend Kate who offered to watch the kids this morning, I was able to join Robin for the unloading and lend a hand. 

This kiln is called a train kiln, the design is also referred to as a coffin kiln. And that's really what it looks like. The chamber is about 6 or 7 feet long and about 4 feet deep. The pots are stacked in the kiln from above into the coffin space and then a massive door is lowered down when it comes time to fire. This design works well for loading the large jars that Robin has been working on this semester. Here is a view of the floor of the kiln with the larger work all lined up. 

It can be a little tricky getting that bottom row of pots out of the kiln, especially if you are over eager and the temperature is still around 200 degrees. It requires a good set of gloves and a bit of a balancing act. Here he goes.

Almost there.

"I think I got it." 

Robin was mostly pleased with how the firing went. Some gems, some disasters. But at least he'll have some work for his final critique next week.